Align yourself

Published 8:00 pm, Thursday, April 3, 2008

"E-cises" are not your ordinary exercises. They're the backbone of what's called the "Egoscue Method" �-- the heart of which is the alignment and posture of the body, along with symmetry.

For example, if you break or injure your leg, your "free" leg compensates, taking on the stress of your entire body burden. You use it exclusively, it becomes stronger and your entire posture becomes misaligned.

Your body is amazingly adaptable and will continue to compensate, but eventually that "overuse" will lead to injury, then pain. That's where the Egoscue method comes in.

"While most treatments are symptom-driven, we are posture-driven," says Egoscue clinic director Greg Heinemann. There are 25 clinics around the country, founded by Peter Egoscue.

According to Heinemann, Egoscue was a former football player and U.S. Marine who, while in service overseas, was shot. After therapy and rehabilitation back in the U.S., he still wasn't moving well.

Believing further improvement was possible, he embarked on a journey of intuition and study, borrowing from the best of yoga, physical therapy, anatomy and exercise. He helped himself, and when his fellow Marines came back from overseas, he helped them, too.

The method starts with a posture evaluation by digital photo from four angles. Heinemann also evaluates your walk and posture by sight. The next step is to go through exercises to re-align your posture and muscles.

"Your body parts have to be stacked, each on top of the other," says Heinemann. "But you also have to want to help yourself. If you help yourself, you control how you feel. It's a powerful thing."

Heinemann has helped individuals of all ages, from 7 months to 92.

"We see golfers and a lot of active people. I've treated a young girl with scoliosis and with e-cises, she was able to decrease the curvature of her spine from 90 degrees to 40 degrees. That is significant," Heinemann says.

Golf great Jack Nicklaus has also benefited from the Egoscue Method, along with many others.

"The method has helped me immensely," says Nicole Daniels, of White Plains. Her knee injury occurred from sports and general overuse. "The exercises change the angle of the muscles so there is not so much stress on the front of my knee," Daniels says.

"It's also helped the rest of my body," she added. "I had tried surgery, medication and physical therapy before, but no one engaged the body as a unit and the body doesn't work that way."

Daniels learned about the method from a segment on the cable network FitTV.

"Most people learn about us through word of mouth," says Heinemann.

The Egoscue clinic also uses video-conferencing with other clinics across the country, to utilize another "set of eyes" when analyzing a patient.

After completing my designated e-cises, I felt a muscle change in my legs and knee area. It was a first step.

Heinemann says my right foot is flared out to the right a bit. I would say that's true, due to my right-handedness and leading with my right side in teaching exercise classes and playing hockey. I need some re-aligning! Thanks, Greg.

For more information about the Egoscue Method, go to www.egoscue.com. What's unique about the site is interactivity. For those who are in severe chronic pain and homebound, they can be counseled through the Web.

Exercise, stretching and the method can help you use your body to protect and rejuvenate itself. Sneakers on!

Did you know? Olympic soccer star Kristine Lilly will be speaking at The Ridgefield Playhouse Thursday at 7:30 p.m. She'll talk about her famed soccer career and the importance of living a physically active lifestyle. A great role model for women! Call the box office at (203) 438-5795 for more information.

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Laurie Leavy is a certified fitness instructor, personal trainer and nutritionist. Contact her at shapeupwithlaurie@hotmail.com.